The BJP has ended a two-decade run of the Manik Sarkar government in Tripura and is heading for a comfortable victory in the state assembly elections.

BJP chief Amit Shah thanked people of Tripura and said Manik Sarkar's defeat has made it clear that "the Left is not right for any part of the country". In the last 25 years, the Left has done nothing for the development of Tripura, said Mr Shah.

A virtual political non-entity, all these years in Tripura, where it had drawn a blank in terms of seats and secured only 1.5 per cent of votes in the assembly elections five years back, the BJP has raised prospects of getting an absolute majority on its own with its candidates leading in 32 constituencies in the 60-strong assembly.

The BJP and its new regional partner Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party or NDPP have also pulled ahead in Nagaland and will form government if they hold on to current leads.

In Meghalaya, the ruling Congress is leading but could fall short of a majority and is scrambling to try and ensure that the BJP does not manage to gather regional allies for a post-poll alliance to form government.